The Rising Moon Pack

Chapter 12

Maria POV

“Cake, cake, cake, cake!” I chanted happily as we walked back towards the food table.

Jake looked at me, amusement spreading all over his face.

“ You don’t understand!” I protested. “ Mrs Davies makes the best chocolate cake.”

He laughed, shaking his head.

“I’ll hold you to that, baby.” He smiled at me.

We reached the table, where a dozen or so omegas were clearing away empty plates where party food had once been. My mom stood by, giving orders to make sure everything was executed perfectly.

“Mom, I’m going to help Mrs Davies in the kitchen!” I called.

“Absolutely not!” Her head snapped back to look in my direction. “The birthday girl is going to take a seat at the table with her mate, whilst her brother and future ranked members of Rising Moon assist Mrs Davies in the kitchen, are we clear?” She said, sternly.

I sighed. “Yes, Luna.”

I turned to Jake who was laughing silently to himself, and elbowed him in the ribs.

“Whose side are you on!” I wailed, dramatically.

“Your mom’s.” He smirked, without missing a beat. “I don’t wanna face her wrath!”

“That would be a wise choice,” my dad said, joining us as we sat at the table. “She may be tiny, but damn she’s fierce!”

“What was that, Benny?” My mom asked, her eyes narrowed.

“ We were just discussing how beautiful and kind you are, darling.” My dad winked to us, kissing her cheek.

At that moment, Jase, Alex and Matt came out from the back door with the most exquisite 6 tier chocolate cake I had ever seen. They walked carefully over to the table, and I finally realised why the omegas had to completely clear the table. This cake was massive, but I had no doubt that with over 300 wolves in attendance plus our entire pack at breakfast the next morning, it would be devoured.

Behind my brothers, Mrs Davies was walking slowly, anxious at the risk of ruining her hard work. And my, this cake was the best cake I’d ever seen her bake. It was stunning! Through each tier, there looked to be a large crack, but each crack was filled with tiny emerald sugar crystals. The cake looked as though it was a giant geode, and the way the emerald glinted amongst the chocolate, I was truly mesmerised.

I stood out of my chair to greet Mrs Davies. I walked over and enveloped her in the warmest hug I could muster, and I led her to the table, offering her my chair.

“Sweet girl,” She began, her eyes twinkling, “it has been an honour baking your birthday cakes each year. I am going to miss it very much!”

“I am honoured that you have spent so much of your time dedicated to baking me beautiful creations.” I answered. “I’m going to miss you, so, so much.” My eyes were welling up with tears, I couldn’t help it.

She squeezed my hand tightly, and the entire pack and our guests stood to sing happy birthday. The sound filled the night air, and as I listened, I realised how truly blessed I was.

Once the cake had been cut, and everyone had a slice, I stood on the platform and grabbed a microphone from a passing omega. My mom and dad both looked up at me, and Jake smiled encouragingly from his seat.

“ I want to take this time to thank you all for your presence here tonight,” I began, “but I would also like to thank the people who made this happen. My mom, Luna Kate. You’ve been in my corner from day one, always fighting for me to be the best person and wolf I could be. You pulled this party together effortlessly, and I’ve loved every minute of it. Thank you for guiding me, and teaching me what it means to be a good person, even through the hardest of years.”

I watched my mom wipe a few tears away, smiling at me.

“ And dad, I wanna thank you for always supporting me, and pushing me to be the best warrior I could ever be. I want to thank you for modelling what a good father, a good husband, and a good mate looks like. The qualities that I already see my mate possesses.” I continued, looking over to Jake. My dad slapped him gently on the back, grinning.

" I would also like to thank the omegas who helped to set this event up, and who will be clearing it all away. I'd like to thank to kitchen staff for providing a fabulous buffet, and my sweet friend Mrs Davies for baking that amazing cake!" Mrs Davies beamed at me from her seat at the table.

“ I have so many people that I could thank,” I said, “ but if I reeled of a list of people and what each one means to me, we’d be here all night! And I know that most of our guests will be attending meetings all day tomorrow, so I won’t keep you long, I swear.” A chuckle rippled through the crowd. “ I just want to make a special mention, if that’s alright, and raise a toast.”

The crowd murmured approvingly, and they all held their champagne flutes, waiting.

“ Tonight, we celebrate the fact I turned 18. But we also celebrate those in our packs who were never destined to become full age, and who are frozen in time forever. All of our packs have them, the ill-fated children who lay in the Kingdom above. I just want to take a moment whilst we all reflect on our fallen children.”

Silence fell over the crowd as we all bowed our heads, honouring them. After a minute, I raised my glass.

“To Bella! Forever 17.” I called. “Please, name them. Let us all celebrate the fallen.”

Alpha Steven from Blue Moon stood.

“ To Katie, forever 12!”

Alpha Johnathon followed suit.

“To Damon, Forever 3!”

Next came Alpha Kristoph.

“To Samantha, forever 11!”

The one that surprised me the most was Jake, who stood and called out

“ To Wyatt, forever 15”.

Calls for toast rang out all over the night, and we blessed each one. Our packs had suffered a lot of loss, but the ones that hurt most were the children robbed of their futures. We ached for them, and I wanted to include them and remind our allies that their pain would never be forgotten by us at Rising Moon, and I would make it my mission to continue at Sapphire Moon.

Time and time again, glasses were raised. My speech had ignited a warmth among the alphas, and we all gathered together and listened to the tales they told about their lost children. They spoke with love, with warmth, with sadness. Cups were emptied and refilled, tears flowed freely and were comforted. The bonds between our packs had been strengthened, and I silently thanked Bella for inspiring my speech.

I took a step back for a moment to get some fresh air, and felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist from behind. I closed my eyes and smiled as the scent of sandalwood and mint enveloped me, and I felt Jake bend to whisper in my ear.

“I’m so proud of you, my Luna.”

I turned to look at him, and smiled. Then, without meaning to, I yawned.

It was well into the early hours of the morning, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave the party whilst the alphas spoke of their children. I felt connected, and content.

“Excuse me, Alphas.” My mother spoke up.

“ I think it’s time we all consider getting to bed,” she continued, “ We have a full day of meetings in the morning, and tired minds make mistakes!” She finished.

“Yes, Luna, of course.” They bowed their heads respectfully and stood, ready to leave.

As Jake and I prepared to leave, a small blonde woman I recognised as Alpha Johnathon’s wife, came over to me.

“Maria?” She asked, tentatively.

“Yes?” I replied.

“My name is Faye,” she began. “ I just wanted to thank you, for what you said up there. That’s the first time my husband has spoken our son’s name since he passed, and he has been sharing stories of him since then, too. I can already feel that he has started to heal, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am.” She sniffled.

I pulled her into a fierce hug. I couldn’t imagine what it felt like to lose your child, but a child as young as 3 somehow felt even worse. Faye began to sob into my shoulder, and I did the only thing I could think of, and rubbed her back, softly humming the melody I had hummed to Uncle Harry. Slowly, she calmed down and once she was back to occasional sniffles, I let her go.

“Any time you need a friend,” I said, “You call for me, okay? I haven’t lost a child, so I can’t pretend I know how that feels, but I lost my best friend. Don’t lose yourself. I’ll always be here for you.”

She gasped, and for a moment I felt confused.

“What?” I asked, concerned.

“ Well… I don’t know.” She said, bewildered. “If I didn’t know any better, I could have sworn your eyes were glowing!”

Jake appeared beside me, interrupting our conversation. “Are you ready to go, darling?” He asked me gently.

I nodded, and turned to Faye.

“Goodnight, Luna.” I said, “ And don’t forget to call me. I’ll see you soon!”

As we turned and walked back into the pack house, I sighed contentedly. This had possibly been the best birthday I had had, and I felt so lucky. We weaved through the omegas who were making quick work of packing away, and as we reached the stairs, I called out to them all.

“Goodnight, everyone. Thank you for your hard work tonight, please get some rest ahead of tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, Luna.” They answered me.

I shivered, and realised they were right. Somehow, I had gone from being absolutely terrified of becoming a Luna, to being one without noticing. I turned to Jake, and noticed that he was standing awkwardly on the landing.

“What’s up?” I asked him, gently.

He seemed nervous as he cleared his throat and asked, “Your room, or mine?” .